After 40 years as a professor of urban design and nearly a decade as a consultant to locales as varied as New York and Zurich, Milan and Melbourne, Jan Gehl knows a thing or two about cities.

And as he stood in the asphalt heart of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, with an ice cream kiosk on one side of him and a duck-shaped tour bus on another, the 72-year-old Dane did not look impressed.

"There's too little water, and too much of everything else," Gehl said. "It has gone completely overboard in the quick-buck focus - how to skim a half-day tourist."

Gehl was in San Francisco last week as a guest of the Planning Department, which has engaged Gehl's firm to recommend how the city's streets and sidewalks can be made more enticing to bicyclists and pedestrians.

The focus of this visit is the Fisherman's Wharf area, where planners are working with neighborhood business groups and nearby residents to come up with ways to make it again feel like an integral part of the city, rather than a tourist zone unto itself.

This stretch of waterfront between the Embarcadero and Aquatic Park still bears traces of the fishing boats and family-owned seafood restaurants that created its initial allure. But you'll also find Bubba Gump's, Hooters, Crazy Shirts and Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Several efforts now are under way to improve the ambiance of a district that as far back as 1961's "San Francisco: An Informal Guide" was described as "lined on every side with gaudy restaurants, gift shops, and sideshows with assorted sea monsters."

Since 2006, merchants and property owners have been taxing themselves to raise money for maintenance and civic beautification. The Port of San Francisco - the Wharf's largest landowner - intends, with bond money, to build a new promenade west of Pier 39.

The Planning Department, meanwhile, has floated the idea of upgrading the street-level environment by closing some lanes of traffic on Jefferson and other streets to create bike paths and wider sidewalks, part of a larger neighborhood plan that will be released in draft form next spring.

Gehl Architects won't be writing the plan; rather, it will offer advice and critiques based on the analytical work Gehl has done during his career.

To be sure, the Bay Area has no shortage of planners who work at the fine-grain level for which Gehl is known. So why sign a $130,000 contract with a 40-member firm based in Copenhagen?

"Jan has a depth of knowledge that others don't have," said Neal Hrushowy, the project manager for the city. "There's a familiarity with so many places."

As he walked along the water on a gorgeous October morning, Gehl suggested another advantage his firm might bring.

"The outside consultant has a freedom to be more outspoken," he said. "We can say the obvious thing that locals are afraid to say."

The scene offered plenty of opportunities for the genial Dane to speak his mind - such as the triangular parking lot that fills most of a block between Jefferson Street and the bay. The port leases it to restaurateurs.

"What a very good idea to have a parking lot right here to greet you. I cherish this," Gehl said with heavy sarcasm. "Wonderful, San Francisco."

Nor was Gehl soothed by the din of idling tour buses, music blaring from souvenir shops, barkers calling on passers-by to rent a bicycle or take a bay tour: "Another issue is the aural pollution. You would think buses could wait elsewhere. Bikes could be located a block away, not on the water."

But as Gehl explored Pier 45, where fish processors still do business, the clamor faded. Here, the path along the west edge of the pier was stacked with crab cages, or empty pallets. The only other people on the scene were a few fishermen trying their luck on the calm blue bay.

"This place has a fantastic amount of opportunities," he said. "There's a mix of all these crazy things. Whatever happens, it should maintain the mixed character."

Neighborhood revival

Every city has its own topography and ambiance, says Jan Gehl, author of such urban design studies as 1971's "Life Between Buildings." But he also says there are rules of thumb to keep in mind when crafting plans and reviving neighborhoods. Here are four:

Rein in the automobile. "For 50 years we were completely obsessed with making room for cars," Gehl says. "We need to show respect for people who are moving about on foot or by bicycle."

Accentuate the positive. "Celebrate the things that give a place its special character - views of mountains or water, historic buildings. If it's nice for the locals, visitors will love to come there also."

Emphasize the out-of-doors. "We do almost all our work indoors; we need to move in our leisure time. People want to walk, run, bicycle - or sit and enjoy the setting, have a cappuccino."

Design for all ages. "Various groups in the population have various needs," Gehl says. For instance, fold active playgrounds into a district - but put them where parents can relax with a glass of wine while children let off steam.